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and for those who interviewed at other places, what kinds of questions should I expect in a PD interview, more generally? should I study criminal law? memorize outlines?

I interviewed at NJOPD last year. Full disclosure, did not get past the head PD of the state and into the panel interview stage, but I got offers at other PD offices in neighboring states.

J.K. (the head PD) personally interviews everyone offered an interview who isn't coming from a job fair like EJW or through on-campus recruitment at T14s (they get him in their second interview after a screener with a lower-level PD). The interview is pretty standoffish. He challenges anything and everything in your application packet. He does the typical "Why PD?" and "Could you defend people who you think are guilty?" stuff like any PD interview, but then he'll usually launch into challenging stuff in your writing sample or ask about claims you made in your cover letter. He's incredibly discerning and will latch onto anything he sees as an inconsistency or puffery/job-seeking BS on your part. All of the advice I got was to not disagree with him, especially on policy matters like NJ's recent criminal justice reform. This differs with many other typical PD office interviews where they're looking for applicants to stand up for themselves and defend their positions against persons in authority.

Overall, I really didn't like it as an interview because I thought he crossed the line from being challenging to being a little unprofessional and rude. I was not surprised when I was rejected about a month later. Colleagues of mine who interviewed with him told me similar stories, so I know it wasn't just me. Friends who got to the final stage where they were asked to present an opening/closing or do an appellate argument, and said that it was more genial and predictable. NJOPD is a phenomenal office though and I recommend it highly. J.K. is a bit of an odd duck, but if you can somehow convince him to give you his stamp of approval, you won't ever have to deal with him again.

Anybody know the timeline on Maryland OPD interviews? I did the screener a few weeks ago for both the Spring and Fall classes, was hoping to maybe hear back about whether I get the second stage interview this week.

Anonymous User wrote:Anybody know the timeline on Maryland OPD interviews? I did the screener a few weeks ago for both the Spring and Fall classes, was hoping to maybe hear back about whether I get the second stage interview this week.

Pretty sure they did all second round panels for full time before thanksgiving

Anonymous User wrote:Anybody know the timeline on Maryland OPD interviews? I did the screener a few weeks ago for both the Spring and Fall classes, was hoping to maybe hear back about whether I get the second stage interview this week.

Pretty sure they did all second round panels for full time before thanksgiving

You sure? I did my first round the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and was told that panels would be in December with offers going out in January for start dates in February (for the Spring class anyway). Seems unlikely that they'd do second rounds for the same people the day after.

Anonymous User wrote:Anybody know the timeline on Maryland OPD interviews? I did the screener a few weeks ago for both the Spring and Fall classes, was hoping to maybe hear back about whether I get the second stage interview this week.

Pretty sure they did all second round panels for full time before thanksgiving

You sure? I did my first round the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and was told that panels would be in December with offers going out in January for start dates in February (for the Spring class anyway). Seems unlikely that they'd do second rounds for the same people the day after.

Are you a current 3L?

They said to me that they're hiring 5 3Ls to start next year and that no one is starting in the fall since everyone has to be post-bar. Everyone will start in January/February. I did the panel interview the week before thanksgiving and was told by Christmas people should know.

Anonymous User wrote:Anybody know the timeline on Maryland OPD interviews? I did the screener a few weeks ago for both the Spring and Fall classes, was hoping to maybe hear back about whether I get the second stage interview this week.

Pretty sure they did all second round panels for full time before thanksgiving

You sure? I did my first round the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and was told that panels would be in December with offers going out in January for start dates in February (for the Spring class anyway). Seems unlikely that they'd do second rounds for the same people the day after.

Are you a current 3L?

They said to me that they're hiring 5 3Ls to start next year and that no one is starting in the fall since everyone has to be post-bar. Everyone will start in January/February. I did the panel interview the week before thanksgiving and was told by Christmas people should know.

Anonymous User wrote:Anybody know the timeline on Maryland OPD interviews? I did the screener a few weeks ago for both the Spring and Fall classes, was hoping to maybe hear back about whether I get the second stage interview this week.

Pretty sure they did all second round panels for full time before thanksgiving

You sure? I did my first round the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and was told that panels would be in December with offers going out in January for start dates in February (for the Spring class anyway). Seems unlikely that they'd do second rounds for the same people the day after.

Are you a current 3L?

They said to me that they're hiring 5 3Ls to start next year and that no one is starting in the fall since everyone has to be post-bar. Everyone will start in January/February. I did the panel interview the week before thanksgiving and was told by Christmas people should know.

Panel was still doing interviews this week.

Only reiterating what they told me (a candidate -- don't work in the office). Was told panels were intended to be done by thanksgiving time and offers out before christmas. Was also told only 5ish offers to 3Ls so that timeline made sense.

and for those who interviewed at other places, what kinds of questions should I expect in a PD interview, more generally? should I study criminal law? memorize outlines?

I interviewed at NJOPD last year. Full disclosure, did not get past the head PD of the state and into the panel interview stage, but I got offers at other PD offices in neighboring states.

J.K. (the head PD) personally interviews everyone offered an interview who isn't coming from a job fair like EJW or through on-campus recruitment at T14s (they get him in their second interview after a screener with a lower-level PD). The interview is pretty standoffish. He challenges anything and everything in your application packet. He does the typical "Why PD?" and "Could you defend people who you think are guilty?" stuff like any PD interview, but then he'll usually launch into challenging stuff in your writing sample or ask about claims you made in your cover letter. He's incredibly discerning and will latch onto anything he sees as an inconsistency or puffery/job-seeking BS on your part. All of the advice I got was to not disagree with him, especially on policy matters like NJ's recent criminal justice reform. This differs with many other typical PD office interviews where they're looking for applicants to stand up for themselves and defend their positions against persons in authority.

Overall, I really didn't like it as an interview because I thought he crossed the line from being challenging to being a little unprofessional and rude. I was not surprised when I was rejected about a month later. Colleagues of mine who interviewed with him told me similar stories, so I know it wasn't just me. Friends who got to the final stage where they were asked to present an opening/closing or do an appellate argument, and said that it was more genial and predictable. NJOPD is a phenomenal office though and I recommend it highly. J.K. is a bit of an odd duck, but if you can somehow convince him to give you his stamp of approval, you won't ever have to deal with him again.

Thanks so much. I think my process was a bit weird because the head PD was not available on the day of my interview so I did a sort of panel interview? I guess? It was an interview with 3-4 attorneys. Not sure if this counts as a screener or a panel. But the told me the next step would be to interview with the head PD if I move it past this round.

and for those who interviewed at other places, what kinds of questions should I expect in a PD interview, more generally? should I study criminal law? memorize outlines?

I interviewed at NJOPD last year. Full disclosure, did not get past the head PD of the state and into the panel interview stage, but I got offers at other PD offices in neighboring states.

J.K. (the head PD) personally interviews everyone offered an interview who isn't coming from a job fair like EJW or through on-campus recruitment at T14s (they get him in their second interview after a screener with a lower-level PD). The interview is pretty standoffish. He challenges anything and everything in your application packet. He does the typical "Why PD?" and "Could you defend people who you think are guilty?" stuff like any PD interview, but then he'll usually launch into challenging stuff in your writing sample or ask about claims you made in your cover letter. He's incredibly discerning and will latch onto anything he sees as an inconsistency or puffery/job-seeking BS on your part. All of the advice I got was to not disagree with him, especially on policy matters like NJ's recent criminal justice reform. This differs with many other typical PD office interviews where they're looking for applicants to stand up for themselves and defend their positions against persons in authority.

Overall, I really didn't like it as an interview because I thought he crossed the line from being challenging to being a little unprofessional and rude. I was not surprised when I was rejected about a month later. Colleagues of mine who interviewed with him told me similar stories, so I know it wasn't just me. Friends who got to the final stage where they were asked to present an opening/closing or do an appellate argument, and said that it was more genial and predictable. NJOPD is a phenomenal office though and I recommend it highly. J.K. is a bit of an odd duck, but if you can somehow convince him to give you his stamp of approval, you won't ever have to deal with him again.

Thanks so much. I think my process was a bit weird because the head PD was not available on the day of my interview so I did a sort of panel interview? I guess? It was an interview with 3-4 attorneys. Not sure if this counts as a screener or a panel. But the told me the next step would be to interview with the head PD if I move it past this round.

He's kinda notorious for wanting to get facetime with every potential PD in the state and giving the personal thumbs up/down, so they might've just flipped the order for yours. He's also changed the process a bunch the past few years - last year, he was the stage one interviewer whereas in years before he was only at the very end. They might've reverted back to the older way. Dealing with him is pretty simple; don't disagree with him and have a really good answer for why you wanna work as a PD.